This week we will look at champions in the world of board games and eSports. We’ve had previous weeks on Chess players but guess what? There are other board games where we dominate!
Baba Sy
Baba Sy (1935 in Donaye, Senegal – August 20 1978) was a Senegalese international draughts (checkers) player and the first world champion from Africa.
He is said to have been “discovered” by a French player visiting Dakar. In 1959 Baba Sy won the French championship in Châtellerault. A dispute in 1963-64 World Championship was undecided by his death in a car accident in 1978, but he was posthumously declared victor in 1986. The matter caused some debate over the years.
He is seen as a pioneer who paved the way for other African players.
From The ChessDrum:
The late Baba Sy of Senegal is recorded as the greatest checker player in African history. He has paved the way for other talented players such as Ndiaga Samb. The story goes that French player, Emile Biscons saw the 23-year old Sy playing in Dakar, Senegal and invited him to play in Europe.
Sy summarily won the French Championship in 1959 in Châtellerault and began a string of victories that took Europe by storm. He then scored 2nd in the 1960 World Championship behind Russia’s V. Shchegolev and in front of Ukrainian Iser Kouperman (the previous World Champion). The latter figure was involved in a dispute surrounding the 1963 championship match with Sy.
The Russian Federation cancelled the match and thus the bout with Sy never happened when Kouperman did not show. Sy died in a 1978 car accident in Dakar and it was not until 1986 that he was declared the 1963-64 World Champion. In 1970, Sy played Kouperman for the first time after the debacle and won the match 12-10. However, former World Champion (1972-73) Ton Sijbrands stated in an essay:
“But it would be an extremely simplistic view of the things if one based it only on this score (12-10 in favour of Sy Baba) to deduce from it that Baba Sy would have beaten Kouperman if this match had not been cancelled. Myself, I find that it is a possible outcome, but one should not underestimate the enormous force present in 1963 (and remains today in the play of Kouperman). This is why – once again – this remains mainly a question of speculation.”
[yes POU, these bastards really trying to pretend after Baba Sy BEAT Kouperman in 1970, that this doesn’t really count – don’t read anything into it just because he WON]
While there are striking similarities with the Bobby Fischer-Anatoly Karpov dispute, it is still a shame that Sy was not awarded the title until after his death. One wonders the true reason surrounding the Soviets refusal to play the match. Sijbrands further remarked that after 1963, Sy did not challenge again for the world title. However, it is obvious that as a pioneer he set the stage for a contingent of strong African players that exist today.
According to chess historians, Sy played aggressively in his earlier years, but toned down in his later years, playing more cautiously. He relied a lot on intuition as opposed to current theory. Another assuming quality about Sy is that he played with passion and loved the game. Sijbrands called him one of the greatest players to ever play the game.
[and yes, there is speculation on Sy’s death at the hands of the Russians because he showed who was really superior]
YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS!